


Nightmare

by cedalodon



Series: The Hunter and the Hunted [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Giant Spiders, Mind Control, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:29:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27896842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cedalodon/pseuds/cedalodon
Summary: Follow Marinette, Alya and Adrien walk right into their nightmares. Old and new ones.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: The Hunter and the Hunted [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023354
Comments: 39
Kudos: 35





	1. Monster

**Monster**

“Pretty,” the young boy gasped in amazement at the animal before him. 

The maid chuckled as she watched the cat climb onto the table in front of her charge. 

“Now now, young master,” she lectured, “animals have no business being on the table.”

They were in the garden outside the mansion. The young boy had demanded that his father attend lunch with him today. Sadly, the master had cancelled, again. 

To make up for it, the maid had offered that they eat in the garden today. That had cheered him up. 

Although, she now began to regret this decision as she had to remove the cat from the table. The cat, however, liked its new place where it was petted by the young master. 

“Shoo!” She drove it off, and the boy behind her sighed as he watched the cat go. 

“It’s eyes were so pretty.”

“I’m sure they were.”

“I want to have eyes like that too.”

When they made their way back towards the house she started to feel that something was out of place though she couldn’t pinpoint it for the life of her. 

It was only once another maid passed them by screaming and dropping the basket she was holding as she pointed at the young master’s face, that she realised what was wrong.

The boy looked at the two maids in front of him; his eyes widened in confusion.

His cat-like eyes widened in confusion. 

Before Adrien knew what was wrong, his father was there.

“Dad!” Adrien smiled as he watched his father approach, though his smile vanished as soon as he saw the expression on his father’s face.

A hand gripped his hair tightly, and he was forced to look up into his father’s cold eyes. 

“Dad? Dad, you’re hurting me!”

The sound of a slap resounded throughout the entrance hall. The boy was in shock as he held his cheek where his father had slapped him. His eyes were full of terror and confusion.

Then his father dragged him away. 

The boy was pulled by his hair for what seemed like an hour though only a few minutes had passed. He had begun to cry tears of pain as he was yanked up some stairs, through multiple rooms, down some stairs and then through a stone corridor.

At the end of the corridor, his father opened a door and shoved the boy inside of the unlit cell. 

The boy fell to the hard, cold ground from whence he looked at his father. 

“Dad!” He cried.

“Don’t call me that, you monster!” the man replied, hatred clear in his voice. 

The door slammed shut; the loud sound leaving the room in silence after it left, except for the wails of the boy. 

His world shattered, plunged into darkness. 

It was as if the walls were closing in, pressing him down. 

He couldn’t think! He couldn’t breathe! He couldn’t-

“Adrien!” 

The boy woke up in a cold sweat. 

It was dark. He panicked.

Was he back? Was he back in that room? In that mansion? Was he back with the master?

Adrien’s body moved by itself, desperately fumbling at his throat until he felt it. 

The collar.

It was okay. Everything was okay. He was okay. 

“Adrien?” A sweet voice sounded over his panicked breaths, “what’s wrong?”

“Bad dream,” Adrien replied, his voice coming out as a broken whisper. “I’m okay now.”

“Are you sure?” Marinette asked, and he was touched by her concern.

“I’m fine,” he confirmed, although his grip on the collar hadn’t gotten any less tight. 

“Then I’ll see you downstairs for breakfast,” Marinette answered as she left the room.

Adrien took a moment to steady his breath from hyperventilating before he got up and made his way over to the window of the room they had rented. 

He pushed the curtains aside and threw the window open, revelling in the refreshing morning breeze. 

He watched the sun rise over the skyline of the city, sending light into even the darkest corner of the room.

A new dawn. 


	2. Nora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. :)

**Nora**

  
  
  


“Morning you two,” Adrien greeted as he met with Alya and Marinette outside of the inn. 

“Morning Adrien,” Alya reciprocated whilst Marinette pulled him into a hug. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Adrien smiled down at her.. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good, then let’s get going,” Marinette led the way.

They made their way deeper into the city, passing through streets and by houses that looked more and more luxurious as they went.

He had been traveling with Marinette, and sometimes Alya, for over a year now and he liked their dynamic. 

“So,” Adrien tried to strike up a conversation, “who is this person we’re meeting?”

“A friend of mine,” Alya replied, “she sent me an invitation and asked for my help. But she couldn’t explain it any further in her letter.”

“Do you have any idea what could be wrong?” Marinette asked.

“Honestly? No. She’s not the kind of person to get into any trouble that she can’t handle.”

As they arrived at their destination, the jaws of Alya’s two companions almost dropped.

Before them, a white mansion stood proudly surrounded by gardens and fences. It easily overshadowed all the other houses nearby. 

“We’re here,” Alya announced as she stepped towards the front gate and talked to the guard on duty, her invitation in hand.

Adrien leaned over to Marinette before he whispered, “I can’t believe Alya has a friend who lives in a mansion such as this.”

“Me neither,” Marinette replied, “I’ve been to her house. Nothing against Alya, but it’s a dump.” No real use in buying an expensive house though, Alya was always on the move.

“C’mon guys!” Alya’s shout rang from the gate as she waved them over. “We’re going in!”

  
  
  


\------

  
  


They didn’t even make it through the entrance hall before Alya got attacked.

Well, Alya felt like she was being attacked as the incredibly tall, strong and beautiful woman suddenly wrapped her in a tight hug, shouting her name. 

Alya sighed as she was barely able to keep the taller woman from squishing all of the breath from her lungs. 

“Let go, Nora!” She wheezed “I get it already!”

“No way!” the woman, Nora, replied, ”I haven’t seen my lil’ sis in years. Look at how you’ve grown!”

“I said let go!” Alya demanded.

“Uhmmm….” Adrien mumbled awkwardly.

A giggle escaped Marinette’s lips, an angelic sound if you asked Adrien.

It was also a sound that got the attention of their host. Hazel brown eyes landed on the two giggling friends. 

Nora gasped, “where are my manners?! You guys must be exhausted. Come in, come in!”

Marinette, Alya and Adrien were all swept along in the whirlwind that ensued. Before they knew it, they found themselves in a tea room, being served by their hostess herself. 

“Don’t you have maids to do this?” Marinette couldn’t help but asking. 

It was weird. They had been in this mansion for barely an hour now, but they hadn’t met a single member of the staff that you would usually expect to find in a mansion such as this. 

“Oh, I fired them,” Nora proclaimed cheerily. “Useless bunch. I can do my own house work.”

Alya nodded, this was apparently normal Nora behaviour.

“So,” Marinette decided to address the elephant in the room. The small talk with Nora had dwindled, and the silence was deafening. “Why are we here?”

Nora stood quietly for a moment as three curious pairs of eyes settled on her before she began. “So a while ago, I had a guest, a very famous guest,” she added at their curious gazes.

“She stayed here for a while and then moved on with her journey. At least, that’s what the people think.”

“So, she’s still here?” Alya questioned.

“Yes. Yes she’s still here. She has fallen very ill and can’t leave the bed at all. This is a disaster Alya, I have no idea what to do!”

“If you had mentioned in your letter that you needed a healer,” Alya grumbled, “then we could have brought Nino along. But none of us knows much about healing. How are we supposed to fix this?”

“She’s not just sick,” Nora defended, “she’s cursed... I think.”

“You think?!” Marinette had never seen Alya this annoyed, and she knew from years of experience that an agitated Alya was not an Alya you wanted to mess with.

“Take a look for yourself,” Nora offered, “then you’ll see what I mean.”

“Okay,” Alya agreed, “it’s the least we can do after coming this far. But Nora,” Alya stared into the eyes of her elder sister with a seriousness with which she usually would face a monster. “No. More. Hugs.”

  
  



	3. Curse

**Curse**

  
  


“No way!” 

The three hunters gasped as they entered the barely lit room, gaping in disbelief at the sight presented to them. There, in a bed by the window, lay a woman. She was a sight of pure beauty, or she usually would have been. They could imagine how her now sickly skin would glow under the sunlight and how her normal black shoulder length hair would shine at any other occasion.

The bedsheets as well as her dress were as white as clouds. Upon closer inspection, they could see thousands of small strings pulled across the bed and covering the rest of the room.

Spider webs. Marinette flinched at the sight.

“No way!” Alya repeated her earlier statement, “the Saintess!?”

Nora winced. She knew what was coming.

“You have the Saintess over as a guest.” Alya’s voice was low, threatening, charging. Marinette and Adrien took multiple steps back in order to avoid the following explosion. 

“AND YOU LET HER GET CURSED!?” they could hear Alya’s shout from down the hallway as they made their escape.

“This is bad,” Marinette shot a distressed look at Adrien.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “if this gets out, Nora will be ruined and Alya won’t be faring much better. We have to lift the curse before people find out.”

“Do you think she fired her staff so that they couldn’t leak the information?”

“Maybe,” Marinette shrugged, “but that’s not what we’re trying to find out. Do you think you can track it?”

“Track what?” Adrien asked, confused.

“The curse, Adrien.” Marinette sighed, “Curses are just another form of magic and you should be able to track it. How do we know that it is a curse?”

“Because of the spider webs,” Adrien agreed. “But there are way too many spider webs; there are empty dungeons with less webs in them. Clearly, it’s an insect type monster, and spiders are attracted to traces of insect magic.” 

“Also?”

“Also, the room temperature was too low. Someone ought to open those curtains and let the sun in.”

“Probably a bad idea. The curse could have weakened her to sunlight,” Marinette speculated. “But you’ve improved a lot.”

“I had a great teacher.”

“Flatterer,” Marinette chuckled, ”now, can you track it? The magic?”

Adrien grinned, “I can certainly try.”

Marinette could feel the air get thicker as Adrien channeled his magic with a great effort to control it.

_ ‘C’mon Adrien, you can do this. You’ve done it before.’ _

_ ‘Thanks for the encouragement, Plagg.’  _ Adrien thought back.

Adrien gasped as pulled the magic in, focusing on his eyes. He waited until he felt he had enough and let it snap.

The pain was bearable, much less than when he transformed his full body but sharp enough to make him growl.

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked in concern.

Adrien looked up at her. His cheshire grin stretching from his lips to his eyes.

His bright, green, cat eyes.

“Never better, princess.”


	4. Anansi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update. Enjoy

**Anansi**

  
  
  


After her initial anger had blown over and Alya collected herself, she took a look at the Saintess.

She didn’t look well. “How long has she been like this?” 

“About a week, I sent the letter as soon as she was bedridden.”

Alya sighed, the Saintess! Why the Saintess of all people?

Nathalie Sancoeur.

The Saintess of the empty heart.

The current holy figure in a long line of Saintesses.

Alya wasn’t one for religion, but even she knew what an important figure the Saintess was.

“We have to find out what caused this quickly,” Alya concluded. “Marinette and Adrien probably are already tracking the curse. Which means they’ll find it soon.”

“Do you really think they can track something like a curse?” Nora doubted. 

“Those two? Yes, they can; they’re excellent trackers.”

“Then it won’t be long before they find me.” A voice spoke from behind Alya. Every muscle in the woman's body tensed as her ears picked up the sound. The voice was low, hinting at disguised danger. But the thing that really made Alya’s hair stand on end was that the voice sounded like Nora.

It sounded exactly like Nora’s voice, but it sounded nothing like her at the same time.

Alya didn't dare turn around. If she did, she would have seen Nora approach her back and lazily lay her arms over Alya’s shoulders as she put her lips near her little sister's ears.

“So, your little friends will find me will they?” She breathed into Alya’s ear. We’ll see about that. Though, you better pray they find you first.” A set of razor sharp teeth pierced the skin on Alya’s shoulder causing the girl in question to struggle. Nora had tightened her arms around Alyaand was holding her in place as the poison entered her victim's blood.

“Why?” Alya gasped weakly as she felt her strength leave her body. “Nora?”

“Not Nora, little one.” Alya was turned around and held at arm's length, her captor's strength the only thing keeping her upright. 

“The name’s Anansi.”


	5. Into the Lions Den

**Into the Lions Den**

  
  
  
  


It was as if the world was covered in green ink. 

Everything from the hallway to his partner was tinted with a dark green that made it harder to discern colours. 

But there was an upside, being able to see in the dark. 

Adrien could also see traces of magic with his eyes, a skill of which many hunters would be jealous. 

“Are you alright?” Marinette asked as Adrien was getting his bearings.

He grinned at her, “never better Princess.”

“Then let’s get going,” Marinette continued down the hallway before she stopped in sudden realisation and turned toward her partner.

Adrien grinned.

“Wipe that smug smile off your face.”

“Don’t feel like it,” Adrien smirked as he opened a door that led into another hallway. “This way.”

Following him, Marinette mumbled something about having bug eyes, which just made Adrien chuckle.

They continued in silence, Adrien keeping an eye on the magic he was tracking whilst Marinette was keeping an eye out for any dangers they might encounter.

Instead of leaving the mansion, as they expected, the magic led them further inside of the building. 

“Hold up.” Adrien held out his hand, which made Marinette stop in her tracks. “It’s here.”

“In that room?”

“Yeah,” Adrien elaborated, “the magic has become very dense, I can’t exactly make out where it’s coming from anymore. Also,” he pointed to a colony spider webs that Marinette had been trying to avoid noticing, “those have magic in them.”

“So it’s not an insect type, but an arachnid.” Marinette concluded.

“I think so too.” 

Adrien threw the door open, his sword raised to cut down anything that might lurk on the other side. Marinette stood close behind him, her own sword raised. 

However, only shadows met them.

They found themselves in a large room that they assumed to be some form of ballroom. The space had a high ceiling and pillars supporting it, though it was blanketed in darkness. 

They could barely see a metre ahead as they stepped deeper into the room.

Automatically, the two turned their backs towards each other to cover each other's blind spots.

“See anything?”

“The room is covered in webs,” Adrien replied, conveying the visual his dark perception provided. “Though, there don’t seem to be many spiders around.”

“Don’t let your guard down,” Marinette warned as she lit a torch so she could see for herself.

Just as the light of the torch replaced the darkness, a voice rang throughout the room. 

“My, what lovely visitors we have here. I wasn’t expecting a visit, especially from such…  _ lively  _ people.” The voice was that of a woman, and yet, not. It was slender and smooth, disguising the underlying intention of the speaker.

Marinette felt Adrien’s back tense against her own. 

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” 

“My my, so impatient. Just racing through and not enjoying the moment to the fullest, but that’s youth I suppose.” It was as if the voice came from all sides; they couldn’t make out where it came from.

“I don’t like this,” Adrien whispered at his partner.

“Well I hate it,” Marinette concurred.

Their eyes were focused on the dark that lay beyond the light of the torch, expecting something to jump at them any second.

If only they had known to look up.


	6. Trap

**Trap**

  
  
  


So they actually made it?

She sure was surprised that they managed to track down her lair this quickly. 

Did they follow her magic?

No, they couldn’t have, but she'd better not underestimate them. That letter was the last cry for help that Nora woman had been able to make before she succumbed to her whims entirely.

Anansi grinned to herself as she watched the two stumble around in the dark.

Tonight would be fun.

  
  


\------

  
  


“I have to congratulate you though. Not many find their way into my web.”

“Yeah, we’re a special case,” Adrien snarked, tension still evident in his voice.

“Indeed you are, but you misunderstand me. You stumbled into my web, not my nest.”

“Wha-

“Run!” Marinette shouted as she sprinted towards the door. Without questioning, Adrien was close behind her.

He looked over his shoulder. Something was racing towards them. 

It was as big as a carriage and had long brown hair all over its body.

Its eight long legs scurrying over the ground as it chased the prey that stumbled into its trap; it was gaining on them.

Adrien watched the distance between them and the monster slowly get smaller. Without a second of hesitation he grabbed a small metal cylinder from his pocket. He pressed a button and threw the cylinder at the massive arachnid that chased after them.

The room lit up as the flames of the firebomb banished the darkness, accompanied by the sizzling of flames and the screams of the spider. 

Marinette saw the spider retreat back into its lair, but they didn’t stick around to see if it would come back out. 

They needed backup.

“Let’s go check on Alya and Nora,” Adrien huffed as they ran through the hallways of the mansion. 

“Yeah,” Marinette agreed, “we need to make sure they’re okay.”

  
  


\------

  
  


“I’m glad to see you’re safe!” Nora greeted them as they reentered the tea room. “I heard something and I was worried,” she looked at their red faces in worry.

“We’re okay Nora,” Adrien huffed, “just a little out of breath.”

“Where is Alya?” Marinette asked. “We need to be careful, there’s an arachnid on the loose.”

“An arachnid!?” Nora gasped, her face an expression of pure shock. “How?”

“No idea, but we need to leave” Marinette replied. “We need to get Alya and get out of here. We need backup because who knows how many of them there are.”

“Where’s Alya?” Adrien asked Nora once more.

“S-she went to check on the storage rooms, said there might be a clue.”

“I’ll get Alya. Adrien, you and Nora get out of here,” Marinette ordered. “We’ll meet you outside.”

“Be careful.”

Marinette smiled, “you too.” She turned and left down the hallway in order to warn her friend.

“Let’s go,” Adrien took the lead and Nora followed toward the entrance, whilst Marinette was running deeper into the mansion.

Neither of them would leave the house that day.

  
  



	7. Poisoned Tongue

**Poisoned Tongue**

  
  


Their steps echoed through the empty hallway as they hurried their way towards the entrance. They had to get away from here.

The city was big enough to have its own Hunters Guild office. If they made it there, they could get backup. All they needed to do was to get out.

“Wait!” Nora shouted, making Adrien halt in his steps.

“What’s wrong? 

Nora pointed at the front door. “We’re not leaving that way.”

The door was covered in a thick layer of spider webs, making it impossible to even open it.

“No problem,” Adrien replied as he pulled out another firebomb. He was using them a lot today, even though he didn’t like them very much.

“Are you mad!? You could burn the whole house down, you can be glad that earlier one died down!” Nora screeched as she grabbed his arm to stop him from throwing the bomb.

“You’re right,” Adrien admitted. “We have to fi- Wait! How do you know about that?”

“Oops,” Nora chuckled, “seems I misspoke.” Her voice sounded different, darker.

But Adrien had little time to think about that as a set of sharp fangs penetrated his skin.

Adrien gasped in pain, and through the shock of the sudden feeling, he accidentally pressed the button on the firebomb.

A small hiss from the cylinder alerted him and his attacker of the bomb's impending explosion, and Adrien barely had the time to throw it as far away as possible.

The bomb flew, but it wasn’t too long before it exploded in mid-air. The shockwave threw them both off their feet, and Nora lost her grip on him as they were thrown across the room. 

Adrien cried in pain as he hit a wall and slumped down onto the ground. 

Nora was more fortunate, having landed on the ground further away. She got up first, approaching Adrien as he attempted to get back on his feet.

Adrien’s world was spinning; he couldn’t regain his bearings. The sharp pain in his head, the ringing in his ears, the paralysing poison that quickly spread through his body- 

He could barely stand.

A figure loomed before him. Adrien looked up to see the sadistic grin on Nora’s face.

“You put up quite a fight, but it’s over handsome.”

Her balled fist hit his stomach, and Adrien fell forward right into her arms as the last of his strength left him.

“Shhhhhhh,” Nora shushed the barely struggling boy. “It’ll be alright, just sleep for now.”

“M-mari-

“Worry not, your little friend will join us soon.” Nora patted his head, “sleep tight, pretty boy.”


	8. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earlier update today folks, sorry it's usually so late when I upload. 
> 
> I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, I know I am. :)

**Caught**

  
  


“Where is she?” Marinette muttered to herself as she surveyed her surroundings.

She was in what looked like the storage rooms, or at least that’s what they probably used to be because now these rooms were covered from ceiling to floor in spider webs.

Marinette had drawn her sword as soon as she spotted the first web. She was probably walking into another trap, she thought. But if Alya truly was here, Marinette needed to warn her.

Marinette shuddered as she stepped further into the storage rooms, a sword in one hand and a torch in the other.

Her dislike of spiders was more than just a general hate of creepy crawlies. 

It was an instinct. Every muscle in her body, every fiber of her being told her to retreat as her legs slowly carried her deeper into the webs. 

Barrels and crates cramped the already small room. Everything was covered in webs.

Marinette grunted as she cut her way through yet another web that stretched across the room. These things were resilient.

“Where are you girl?” 

“Alya?”

“Marinette?”

“Alya! Where are you? We have to get out of here.”

“I’m over here. I’m stuck.”

Marinette wasted no time as she raced towards the very back of the storage room. Cutting through various webs and skipping over crates that blocked the way.

“Alya?”

“I’m here girl. Come find me!”

Marinette turned a corner and gasped at the sight that befell her eyes.

A thick rope of web hung from the stone ceiling, and at its end hung what could only be the body of a human. “Alya!”

The woman hung there, her whole body cocooned in webs, leaving only her head free. 

She was tied to the ceiling by her feet leaving her head hanging down.

From where she stood, Marinette could only make out the back of Alya’s head, but it was unmistakably her friend.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here girl!” Alya’s voice rang throughout the room.

Marinette approached her friend, “wait a second, I’ll cut you down.”

Marinette grabbed the webs and swung the trapped Alya around to face her.

Marinette gasped as she saw Alya’s face.

Alya’s bloodshot eyes were open wide, her mouth was agape and she was barely breathing.

Without even thinking about it Marinette stretched out a hand and held it against Alya’s throat.

A pulse! There’s a pulse. Alya is alive!

Marinette’s relief was short lived as a voice rang through the room.

“You found me girl! I’m so glad you’re here!”

It was Alya’s voice, but Alya’s lips hadn’t moved.

“Marinette, I’m so glad you’re here.” Adrien’s voice this time. No! This wasn’t Adrien.

Marinette turned around, pointing her sword at the darkness. “What are you?”

“I’m your friend,” not-Alya replied cheerily.

“I won’t hurt you,” not-Adrien voiced.

“Yeah right,” Marinette scoffed. 

‘If she won’t come out,’ Marinette thought to herself, ‘then I’ll draw her out.’

She sheathed her sword and raised her hand towards the darkness. “Acid storm!”

Her magic activated and thousands of small, green droplets shot from her hand and covered the room. The acid dissolved webs with ease and left burn marks where it touched the wood.

It was as if a literal storm of acid erupted from her hand, and within seconds almost every surface in the room was covered in acid instead of spider webs. 

Good thing that she worked on her magic. She was quite proud of it. 

“Not bad,” the same horrifying, silky voice from the ballroom spoke up, “but it’s just too little, too late.”

Marinette didn’t even see it coming. 

The spider jumped forth from Marinette’s blind spot and quickly encased her in a web that she had spun between her four front limbs. She only needed to throw the net over her prey, and the girl stood no chance to escape.

Marinette struggled mightily as the eight legs expertly wrapped her into her silky prison. 

“Let. Me. Go!” she demanded. 

“Now, now,” Anansi whispered as her maw neared Marinette's head. The girl spat at her.

“So feisty, I like you,” the massive spider chuckled, “but we’ll have to do something about these nasty habits of yours.”

“Fuck you!” Marinette attempted to hide her fear from being this close to the monstrous maw of the spider. Her knees would be shaking if they weren’t bound so tightly.

Anansi chuckled, smelling the girl’s fear. 

“Shush now little one,” she grinned as she strung a web over Marinette’s mouth, silencing her. “Let’s go visit your friend,” she laughed as she dragged the cocooned Marinette behind her, extending a few legs to grab Alya as well. 

Soon, these two beauties would join the pretty boy in her lair. 

What tasty snacks. 


	9. Nightmare

**Nightmare**

  
  
  


The sound of shouts and screams roused Marinette from her slumber.

She rose, trying to comprehend what was going on as the screams from outside their house registered with her.

“Arachnid!”

“Get everyone to safety!”

“Where are the hunters?!”

Marinette got up, her duvet falling off and landing on the ground. 

She was a child again, her small legs not able to take her to the door fast enough.

Finally, she reached the door and pushed it open with great effort. 

“Marinette!” her Maman embraced her in a hug. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“What’s happening, Maman?” Her mother just hugged her tighter.

“We need to go sweetheart. Come on.”

The little girl was confused as she followed her Maman out through the back door.

“Where’s Papa?”

“He’s here, he’s getting the wagon ready while we-

“Get back inside!” She heard her father shout as he raced towards them.

Her mother pulled Marinette closer as she saw her husband run towards them. An enormous, eight legged monster on his heels. 

“Tom!”

“Run!”

Marinette screamed as she was pulled along by her mother and back into the house. Tom shut the door behind them and held it closed as the monster was ramming against it from the outside.

Tom held the monster off as his wife and child raced up the stairs and hid in the living area of their bakery. 

From there they listened to the sound of crashing wood and screams from both human and monster.

Marinette stifled her cries in her mother’s chest whilst her mother pulled her close.

It felt like an eternity before silence returned to the town.

“Stay here, Marinette. Hide and don’t come out until I say so,” her mother told her as she pressed a small kiss to her forehead. “I’ll come back.”

“Maman!” Marinette cried as she held onto her mother’s nightgown.

“Shhhhh,” the woman tried to calm her. “Be a good girl and hide.” She picked up a small toy from the ground, a small black cat doll. “Noir will protect you.”

Marinette watched with teary eyes as her mother descended the stairs. 

“No! Tom!”

Marinette clung tight to Noir as her mother’s screams rang through the bakery. 

  
  


\------

  
  


Marinette gasped as she awoke. Something was touching her, everywhere.

She struggled, trying in panic to throw it off. It didn’t work.

They were spider webs. 

She was covered in spider webs.

The spider had gotten her, and it would kill her, just like they killed her Papa.

“Good morning sweetheart,” a voice greeted her in her panic, “calm down a little. I wanna talk.”

Marinette continued her futile struggles as the arachnid closed in on her, stopping right in front of her face.

Marinette stared into those blood red eyes, her own face twisted into a scowl as she tried to form words around the gag in her mouth.

“Awww, don’t worry. You’ll get to talk soon enough; just listen for now,” Anansi began. 

“My name is Anansi. Now you might wonder what I am doing here in the city. Well, you see, I came here because of the Saintess,” the arachnid chuckled. “I will steal her power and make it my own.” 

Marinette couldn’t quite suppress the shocked expression on her face. “Oh yes, you see, us spider folk are very good at manipulating magic. All I need to do is steal her power when she’s at her weakest. And with my poison running through her veins for weeks now, she is almost weak enough.”

“Once I have her power I will cast my web far and wide. Covering whole towns and cities,” Anansi paused for a moment to gauge Marinette’s reaction. To her satisfaction, the girl was still in a panic.

“But with a web as big as that, I will not be able to reach all of the corners. That is why I want you to be my servant, sweetheart. You do as I say and be my servant, and I will protect and care for you. What do you say, sweety?”

The spider raised a leg and pushed the gag from Marinette’s mouth.

“Never,” Marinette gasped as she huffed for air. The touch of the spider's hairs still tingled her face, causing Marinette to shiver in disgust.

“A pity,” Anansi bemoaned, “then you will join them.” She motioned towards multiple bundles of web in a corner.

Marinette gasped as she realised what these bundles were. 

“The servants.”

“Smart little thing, aren’t you?” 

“Acid sto- aaaaah!"

Marinette couldn’t finish her chant as the spider opened her maw and sunk her fangs into her shoulder. 

Before Marinette could resist, as the poison numbed her mind, Anansi strung another string across her mouth. 

“I will give you some time to think about my offer. Consider it your last chance. I don’t want to waste a sweety like you. Although,” she put a leg against Marinette’s stomach and stroked it once, almost caressing,“You humans make for wonderful childbearers.”

Marinette choked against the sticky silk as the spider's words made her sick.

Anansi chuckled as she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Marinette to her nightmares.


	10. Don’t mess with my kid

**Don’t mess with my kid**

  
  
  
  


“Where are they? Where are Alya and Marinette?” Adrien asked.

He was in a dark room, his hands bound above his head by spider webs as his legs were tied to the pillar.

“I’m not Nora, pretty boy. My name is Anansi.”

“I don't care who you are! Tell me what you've done with my friends! Tell me where they are!” Adrien shouted. 

“What does it matter where they are? You should be thinking about where  _ you _ are,” Nora closed in on him and booped his nose. “You’re right here in my web.”

“What do you want?”

“I want your power, your magic,” Nora leaned into him, coming uncomfortably close as her hands explored his neck. 

She felt something and Nora’s hands tightened around his collar. “Distasteful,” she commented before she grabbed a knife from her belt and brought it to his throat. 

Adrien struggled with all his might, but it seemed the webbing was strung with magic, and he struggled to no avail.

Nora put the blade between his neck and the collar before she cut it apart.

Adrien watched as his most treasured possession fell onto the ground. 

Broken.

“Now,” Nora spoke with a commanding voice as she grabbed his throat with one hand and made him meet her gaze, “let me taste your magic.”

Her mouth lowered to his throat before her teeth sank into his flesh. 

Her poison entered his bloodstream once again, but this time felt different. This time, not only his strength, but also his magic was drained from him.

Nora gasped before she stepped back again, breathless from the act.

She raised her arms, stretching them as she felt the power course through her body. “What an amazing feeling. This power!”

Adrien had never felt so weak in his life. He felt naked.

A scoff resounded through his head. 

_ ‘As if,’  _ a familiar voice rang through his head.  _ ‘Just you watch.’ _

In front of him, Anansi was still riding her power high.

“This is, wow! You sure used to be strong, boy. I-”

Anansi gasped as her hands went to cover her chest. “What?!”

She gasped, trying to breathe, But the air wouldn’t come. Her knees gave out, and she fell on her back in front of Adrien. 

He watched in confusion as she spasmed on the floor. The noise would haunt him for years to come. 

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her mouth stood agape. Then something crawled out of it. A small, but nonetheless horrifying, spider crawled out of her mouth. It screeched as it experienced pain beyond its comprehension, as its body dissolved into black dust. 

_ ‘As if anyone else could handle my power,’  _ Plagg spoke into his mind.  _ ‘Go on kid, try it.’ _

“Cataclysm,” Adrien panted, and to his surprise, Adrien felt the power flow through him. 

He fell to the ground as the webs disintegrated. 

“What was that?”

_ ‘That was her magic. It went so far as to take physical form and controlled this poor girl.’  _ Plagg explained.  _ ‘Once it realised it’s host was dying, it tried to escape.’ _

“So Anansi is dead?” Adrien questioned.

_ ‘No. Anansi is the big one. This one here is just a copy.’  _ Plagg explained. 

Adrien sighed, taking a moment to regain his breath.

“Plagg? Thank you.”

_ ‘Don’t mention it. Now, go save your friends.’ _

“Yeah,” Adrien replied as he got back on his feet and threw one last look at the lifeless form on the ground. 

“Claws out!”


	11. Light it up

**Light it up**

  
  
  


“Have you considered my offer?” Anansi asked as she pulled the string from Marinette’s mouth once more.

“You are insane,” she spat her words into her opponent's face.

“Maybe I am,” Anansi replied. “But your situation is hopeless. I will take the power of the Saintess, and I will take yours. I must say, your friends' powers taste amazing.”

Suddenly, the spider seemed on edge as she turned towards the entrance of the lair. “How?” she seethed.

Too late did she realise her mistake. She let herself get distracted by her slave's demise.

“Acid flood!” Marinette shouted, and Anansi watched in shock as her webs dissolved in a sea of acid summoned by the girl. She screeched as acid splattered onto her body, burning away at her flesh.

Marinette followed up right away by forming an arrow out of acid, piercing through her captor's body with palpable force. 

But Anansi got back on her eight legs and charged towards the girl, slamming her down with her far heavier body.

Marinette grabbed her fangs to stop them from biting her head off. But she was still weakened, and her arms began to give way under the monster's strength. 

‘ _ This is it,’  _ Marinette thought to herself.  _ ‘This is how I will die, by the jaws of an arachnid, just like my father.’ _

Marinette felt the monster’s maw slowly close around her neck.

This is it.

“Adrien, help.”

A large figure, covered in black fur slammed into the spider from the side, causing the two to tumble onto the ground.

Marinette watched in dazed confusion as Adrien slammed the spider onto her back and clawed away at her underside. 

She threw him off and got back on her legs before charging at him.

Marinette gathered her magic and fired another acid arrow at her, throwing her off course enough for Adrien to grab one of her legs and slam her into the wall. 

He ripped her leg out and discarded her severed limb to the side. 

Marinette covered her ears from the ear splitting screams Anansi let out as her innards were ripped apart by razor sharp claws. 

Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. A small glimmer, light reflecting off of the metal cylinder of a fire bomb. She stumbled towards the firebomb and picked it up, considering it in her hand for a moment before she activated the bomb and threw it. 

Her gaze was as cold as ice as she watched the bodies burn, roasting rotting flesh and spider eggs alike. 

The arachnids' screams mixed into the sizzling of the flames, creating a symphony of death. 

The screams slowly died down, as did the flames, until only silence remained.

Strong, massive arms wrapped around her and she was pulled into a fur covered chest.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Adrien purred. She took comfort in the vibrations that rumbled through her body.

“Yeah,” Marinette replied, “so am I.”

\------

  
  


“Step!” The coachman called as he snapped the reins and the carriage got moving.

It was raining, and the drive would not be a comfortable one.

But none of the passengers complained. The mood was melancolic enough. 

Marinette could only look down at her lap, where Adrien rested his head. She was stroking him absentmindedly as her thoughts traveled without restraint. To the night her father died, to the day when she met Adrien. She didn’t want to think, but she had to.

Adrien rested his head in Marinette’s lap, his only source of comfort. In his hand, he held the broken pieces of his collar, held tightly in his grip. They couldn’t get a new one just yet; he still had a bandage around his throat from when he was bitten. He hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Though most broken of them all, was Alya. She watched the rain fall through the window as they drove past fields and towns. How was she going to explain this to her sisters?

How could she ever explain why Nora was gone?

_ ‘Get a grip,’’  _ Alya thought to herself.  _ ‘You have to be there for them. You have to survive. She would have wanted that.’ _

A single ray of sunshine broke through the clouds, making the world a little brighter, even if only for a second before darkness took its place again.

Nora would have wanted her to live.

So that’s what she would do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus marks the end of Nightmare, but fret not beloved reader, for a new dawn will arise and bring the heat into this work of fiction.
> 
> So anyway, yeah. I hope you enjoyed it and that you will keep following the story.   
> I must admit I fell a bit behind on writing and am almost caught up but I'll do my best to keep the updates coming. 
> 
> I love reading your comments and the support I have been getting is amazing! Thank you all!  
> And a very special thank you to Elsie_Noir for beta reading and helping me make Hunter into the beautiful world it is! 
> 
> So, what's up next?   
> Up next is one Oneshot, by me. Another oneshot, this one's by Elsie and will be posted under her pseudo: elecé oscura. Both of these are Rated E and I'm really excited about them.
> 
> However, you don't need to necessarily read them to continue on with the story. So if you'd rather skip those that's okay, in that case you can move on to the next instalment of Hunter: Fire and Flames
> 
> I hope all you had a good time and to see you again soon! Stay safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Big big BIG Thank you to elsie_noir for beta reading this. 
> 
> And also a big thank you to all of you for reading this.
> 
> I'm glad so many peope are enjoying my story.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [When Dreams Face Reality](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103541) by [elecé oscura (elsie_noir)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elsie_noir/pseuds/elec%C3%A9%20oscura)




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